Karin Fittante

I grew up in New York City and initially wanted to attend NYU, but my parents insisted I leave the city. I applied to Boston University's film department as my first choice and got in, which really started cultivating my love of the visual arts. After graduating, I spent about 6 months in San Francisco before returning to New York. A friend who had been doing graphics research for the vertebrate paleontology department at the Museum of Natural History was going back to Columbia for her master's and recommended me for her position. I was temping at the time and getting disillusioned, so I took the job and did that for about 2 years. From there, I became a photo editor at a publishing company, then at Psychology Today magazine, and eventually worked as photo editor and photo director at Bon Appetit, Men's Health, and New York Magazine. When my husband got transferred to California, I had a hard time finding work since so much of the magazine industry is in New York. I interviewed with Bon Appetit and they needed a producer rather than a photo editor, so I made that transition. They sent me everywhere from Italy to the Bahamas to Canada, and I saw 42 of the 50 states. When Conde Nast shut down Gourmet and closed the LA office of Bon Appetit, everyone who had been hiring me got laid off. I decided to continue as an independent producer since I had met so many photographers and agents by that point. My production company became incorporated in 2005, and I've been doing this for over 20 years now. The majority of my work still comes from ad agencies in New York. Recently, I've become more interested in giving back to the community. I serve on the Encinitas Library Board and am currently curating a museum exhibit on the history of skateboarding in Vista, where I now live.